


Nervous Feet and Heart of Stone

by Icyhot_Alchemist



Series: Sengen week [1]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Sengen week, Thanks for making one of the days soulmate AU, This probably isn't what you wanted when you did that, Writing on Skin, but hng, soulmate aus, that soulmate au that I can't find the tag for, you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-04-21 08:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22057894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icyhot_Alchemist/pseuds/Icyhot_Alchemist
Summary: As loathe as he is to admit it, Senku was actually quite excited to figure out his soulmate connection and get to know his soulmate, Asagiri Gen.Of course, the whole petrification thing kind of threw a wrench in it all.For Sengen week day 4: Soulmate AU!
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Series: Sengen week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586791
Comments: 26
Kudos: 699
Collections: Soul Connections and Others





	Nervous Feet and Heart of Stone

**Author's Note:**

> WOW GUYS ONE OF THE DAYS WAS SOULMATES IS ANYONE SURPRISED I SHOWED UP?!  
The title is from 'Casanova, Baby' by Gaslight Anthem. It has nothing to do with this but I've been dying to use it as a title for a Dr. Stone fic since I started writing them.  
Feel free to... I dunno share your new years resolutions in the comments or like bully me or something.  
Enjoy!

When Senku was young, there was no way of knowing what his soulmate connection was. He had no visible marks, no words tattooed on his skin, and he could see all the colors of the rainbow. But there were plenty of connections that had no visible markings or required soulmates to actually meet before they manifested, so he wasn’t too worried about not having a soulmate. Even though he didn’t know anything about them or their connection, he was sure someone was out there and that they would meet in due time.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait incredibly long to figure it out. One day when he was trying to work out an exceedingly complicated equation, he had written down some figure on the inside of his arm to not forget them. Next time he looked down though, there were new words that he had no memory of writing with a small arrow pointing towards the equation notes.

_Wow, that seems complicated!_

He stared at the words for a few minutes before it really dawned on him where they had come from. His soulmate! His soulmate must have written them! Being able to see the writing on your soulmate’s skin wasn’t too uncommon and he even had a few friends who had that connection. He smiled giddily and uncapped the marker he had been holding and pressed the cool tip against the inside of his arm just below the unfamiliar handwriting.

_Just my luck. My soulmate is dumb._

_I’m not dumb!! You’re just unnaturally smart, apparently!_

Senku snorted and turned back to what he was working on. His soulmate would be there in 5 minutes, but his train of thought might not be, so clearly his priorities were set. But he couldn’t keep himself from checking his arm for more than a few seconds.

_So what’s your name?_

_I’m in the middle of something!_ he wrote back quickly, already feeling his focus slipping away.

_Okay well hello Mr. Super-Smart-I’m-In-The-Middle-Of-Something. I’m Asagiri Gen! It’s nice to meet you._ Senku read the line and let out a small laugh. He glanced at the paper on his desk then back at his arm. After a small internal debate which lasted less time than he would have liked to admit, he relaxed back in his chair and uncapped his marker, focusing on their conversation.

_Haha. Hilarious. I’m Ishigami Senku. I guess it’s nice to meet you too._

_You GUESS?_

_Well you did interrupt what I was doing._

_YOU GUESS?_

_FINE! It’s nice to meet you. Are you happy now?_

_Yes :)_ Senku felt his cheeks warm a little but quickly pushed that thought away. He wasn’t charmed by this near complete stranger. Not in the slightest. 

_Well… I’m glad._ He wrote back. He stared at the myriad of writing on his arm for a minute and reread their short conversation, lingering on the name. 

Asagiri Gen. 

Senku slammed the cap back onto the marker and tossed it onto the table away from him. He grabbed a hoodie from his closet and pulled it over his head to cover up his arms and cover up the distracting writing there. 

He returned to his work, pointedly not thinking about the writing on his arms and the person on the other side of the writing. He needed to focus! He had things to do! No time to worry about his soulmate. 

His soulmate.

He picked up his pen and hunched over the paper in front of him. But even as he started working and refound his flow, he couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at the corner of his mouth or the warm blush that rose on his cheeks. He smiled down at the paper as he continued to work, thankful that no one was there to see him.

His soulmate.

-X-X-X-X-X-

After that first day, Senku and Gen would write to one another at least a few times a day. For the first few weeks, it was mostly good mornings, good nights, and Gen asking Senku questions to get to know him better and Senku pretending like he didn’t want to answer and like he felt obligated to ask the questions back when in reality he always ended up waiting impatiently to read Gen’s responses and kept the information carefully written down in a small notebook he had hidden in the bottom drawer of his desk.

He couldn’t deny the fact that they were soulmates, after all. So it couldn’t hurt to keep track of Gen’s favorite color and food and such. It might come in handy someday. 

Taiju and Yuzuriha noticed the change early, of course. Which probably had less to do with a shift in their friend’s behavior and more to do with the fact that Senku rolled up his sleeve during lunch, completely forgetting about the _Good morning Senku-chaaaaaaan_ followed closely by _Oh no. You’re not calling me that. And good morning._ still written on his arm. Upon seeing the words, Taiju let out a loud, excited noise and pounded Senku on the back, knocking the air out of the scientist for a minute.

“That’s amazing, Senku!” Yuzuriha seemed much calmer, but her excitement was clear in her broad smile. “How long have you known?”

“Only a few days now,” he shrugged, trying not to sound too excited. 

“What’s their name?” Taiju asked. 

“Asagiri Gen.” Yuzuriha’s eyes widened in shock at the name. 

“Like, THE Asagiri Gen?” Senku stared at her in confusion.

“Well, he sure is AN Asagiri Gen? Who the heck is THE Asagiri Gen?” 

“Hold on.” She quickly grabbed her book bag and started rummaging through it. After a minute of searching while Taiju and Senku exchanged increasingly confused looks, she resurfaced with a magazine in her hand, immediately holding up the cover for Senku to see. “THE Asagiri Gen! He’s a rising star mentalist!” Senku grabbed the magazine from her and stared at the cover, wondering if the young man pictured there could in fact be his soulmate.

He had a sharp smile and even sharper, calculating eyes, but confidence seemed to suit him well. The contrast between his dark black hair and his almost alarmingly pale skin was striking. Senku could easily see how people could be charmed by his looks. Not that Senku was. At least not too much.

But then his mind started connecting those intelligent eyes and pale skin with everything he knew about his soulmate. He stared at the picture for a few more minutes. This man’s favorite hobby was reading. His favorite drink was cola. His favorite color was purple. He saw that knowing smile and connected it with the witty, expressive words he was starting to grow familiar with. 

Maybe he was more charmed than he’d like to admit. 

A blue marker entered his field of vision and he glanced up to see Taiju holding it out to him with a knowing smile. Senku blushed but grabbed the offered marker with a small thanks. He uncapped it and paused, unsure what to write. After a moment of reflection, he chuckled to himself and started writing.

_Oh my god, are you THE Asagiri Gen? Can I, like, get your autograph?_

He recapped the market and turned back to his lunch, not expecting a quick response in the middle of the day. However, after just a few minutes, Yuzuriha cleared her throat and discreetly pointed at the inside of her arm, prompting him to look down at the new writing on his own. He couldn’t stop the small laugh that escaped him when he saw his soulmate had indeed signed his arm in large, ostentatious characters. Underneath the signature was a much smaller, cleaner line of writing.

_So Senku-chan has heard of me?!_

_No. _

_Excuse me, clearly you have!_ Gen drew a little arrow up to Senku’s first comment, followed by a little face sticking its tongue out. 

_I haven’t. But my friend asked what your name was and showed me a magazine with you on the cover when I told her. _

_Ah, well your friend seems like a wonderful person._

_She really is. _

_Wait! This means you know what I look like now! _

_I do indeed._

_Well what’d you think? :D _

Senku blushed and debated whether he should honestly tell Gen his first impression of him, quickly deciding against it. The mentalist seemed a little too aware of how he looked. Senku didn’t need to encourage that.

_Your hair looks dumb._

_RUDE!! T-T How am I supposed to be happy knowing my soulmate doesn’t like my looks?!_

_Fine! Your hair isn’t dumb._

_Thank you :) _

_It might even be a little cute._

_OH?!?! :D _

Senku cursed internally. He probably should have kept that last bit to himself. Before he could take it back, Gen started writing again.

_This isn’t fair though! You’ve seen me but I still don’t know what Senku-chan looks like!! _

_Well unfortunately I’m not exactly on magazine covers all the time. I can draw you a self portrait if you’d like._

_As much fun as that sounds, I was thinking we could exchange phone numbers and you could send me a picture. _

“-nku! Senku!!”

Senku looked up from where he was contorted uncomfortably to write on his leg, having quickly run out of room on his arm, to see Taiju and Yuzuriha standing up with their bags on their shoulders. 

“What’s up?”

“Did you not hear the bell ring?” Senku glanced around and noticed all the other students making their way inside.

“Crap,” he mumbled under his breath. He quickly wrapped up his abandoned lunch and packed up his bag. Taiju helped pull him up and the three of them headed to class. As they walked, Senku uncapped the marker one last time and scribbled a quick note on his palm.

_I have to go back to class. But here’s my number, if you wanted to use that instead from now on. _

He recapped the marker and handed it back to Taiju. As they found their seats and waited for class to begin, Senku grabbed his phone out of his pocket and saw the notification light flashing with a new message from an unknown number. 

[**Gen**: Senku-chan!! You have to send me a picture!!]

Senku smiled to himself and slipped his phone back into his pocket as the teacher entered the room, his mind wandering to black hair and dark eyes whenever the lesson got boring.

-X-X-X-X-X-

Senku would never admit how long he spent trying to take the perfect picture to send to Gen later that night. He kept telling his soulmate that he was busy and would send one once he was free, but in truth he was just taking and deleting pictures until he hopefully took one good enough to be sent.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t confident or was worried that Gen wouldn’t like him because of his looks. But he had just found out his soulmate was semi-famous and appeared on the cover of magazines from time to time and apparently even had a tv show, so there was a lot to live up to. After all, he was just a skinny, kind of awkward teenager who made up for his lack of height with his unnaturally tall hair.

Maybe he was a little low on confidence in the looks department.  
But again. His soulmate was famous. Why would he be interested in someone like Senku.

Senku took a deep breath and snapped what had to have been the thousandth picture of the evening, quickly opening it on his phone to examine it. This one was better than most of them had been, his expression somewhat natural without looking too pissed off, and his hair didn’t look too ridiculous. His phone buzzed with a new message and he almost dropped it in surprise.

[**Gen**: So when do I get to finally see the mysterious Senku?]

Senku closed his eyes and took a deep breath before hitting send on the picture he had just taken before he could lose his nerve. He sat down at his desk chair and spun around a few times, waiting impatiently for a response. When his phone vibrated on the desk, he grabbed it within a second and quickly opened Gen’s message.

[**Gen**: Why hello there, Senku-chan. Nice to finally put a face to a handwriting.]

Senku huffed and glared at his phone. That didn’t exactly give him any hints as to what his soulmate thought.

[**Senku**: Well, what’d you think?] He typed in response, mimicking Gen’s words from earlier. 

[**Gen**: You look just as smart as I always imagined.]

Was he saying he looked like a nerd? His phone buzzed again before he could finish typing a response.

[**Gen**: But far more handsome than I could have imagined.]

Senku felt his cheeks burn with a warm blush and took a moment to be thankful that his soulmate was nowhere near him to see his reaction to those words. He stared at the message for a few minutes, not sure how to respond in a way that wasn’t something lame like just thanks. He let out a sigh of relief when he received another text from Gen, giving him something else to focus on for the time being. 

[**Gen**: But how do you get your hair to do that?]

Senku stared at his phone in confusion and quickly tapped out a reply.

[**Senku**: Do what?]

[**Gen**: You know, stand up so straight like that.]

[**Senku**: That… That’s just my hair?]

[**Gen**: Wait…. It does that NATURALLY?!]

[**Senku**: Yeah, except for when it’s wet…]

Senku chewed on his lower lip nervously. Was Gen going to think that he was weird looking now that he knew that his hair seemed to defy gravity without him doing anything to it?

[**Gen**: Huh, well that’s cool! I tried to spike my hair up once with gel but it kind of looked shitty and fell down after like an hour. But I think it looks neat. Gives you a kind of mad scientist vibe.]

[**Senku**: I don’t exactly think that’s a good vibe to have.]

[**Gen**: Well whatever. It suits you, is what I’m saying. Looks good on you.]

Senku smiled down at his phone and felt his blush return as he typed his reply.

[**Senku**: Well, thank you, mentalist. Means a lot coming from you.]

-X-X-X-X-X-

After that, they fell into a normal routine of texting every day. It usually consisted of small talk, little bits about what they were doing and how things were going.

Without fail, though, Gen would still always write Senku a message every morning and every night. Before going to bed each night, Senku would see Gen’s neatly written _Good night! Sweet dreams!_ And would wake up the next day to _Good morning, Senku-chan!_

Which would always lead to a half-hearted argument about being called Senku-chan even though the cutesy name was slowly growing on him more than he wanted to admit. 

They would also resort to writing anytime phones weren’t an option. Like when Senku was too busy to remember to charge his phone (_Senku look at your phone! Crap it’s dead!_) or when Gen was too busy dealing with interviews and his adoring fans to have his phone out (_Did you meet someone cuter and abandon me, mentalist? Senku-chan no you can’t be dramatic, I’M the dramatic one._)

Shortly after Senku realized Gen had a tv show and started putting it on in the background while he worked if it was on, the scientist found far too much satisfaction in antagonizing the mentalist by writing on his arms during the program. He would never write anything bad, just small messages meant to distract Gen and throw him off his game. But Gen quickly remedied the problem by taking to wearing long sleeves whenever he was doing a show or making an appearance somewhere. 

Weeks turned into months and the two of them grew closer, talking more and more through text and periodically through their connection as the time slipped by. Their conversations turned from small talk and getting to know one another on a surface level to more meaningful discussions and growing even closer.

The first time they spoke on the phone was on Senku’s birthday. He had heard Gen’s voice before when watching the mentalist’s show, but it could never compare to hearing him speak directly to him like that. He couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like once he could hear Gen’s voice in person. 

After that, they usually ended up calling one another at least once every other week, sometimes for just a few minutes to catch up on what was going on in their lives, sometimes for hours late at night when they would just chat aimlessly about everything and nothing, usually while Senku worked on something or other, until one of them, usually Gen, fell asleep or until the sun started tinting the sky pink. 

The topic of meeting in person usually came up when they were talking late at night in the form of vague plans and vaguely hinted at desire. They decided that they wanted to wait until they were older to meet in person. Until they were both ready to start something official between them, even though Senku was pretty sure in his heart that he was already ready for them to be something more.

Except when they had agreed to meet later, Senku wasn’t quite sure that a few thousand years later was what either of them had in mind.

-X-X-X-X-X-

When Senku broke free of the stone, there was a lot to think about.

He was quite possibly one of the only people alive in the world at the moment.  
He needed to find Taiju and Yuzuriha.  
He needed to make sure Gen was okay.

Fortunately, he had had plenty of time to create a plan for finding his friends and ensuring their safety.  
Unfortunately, he had no way to find Gen and no way to make sure he was okay or to revive him in the chance he did find him. 

So he focused on the task at hand, doing his best to push thoughts of his soulmate that he may never meet from his mind. 

He managed to focus and keep his thoughts about Gen at bay for the most part until one night when he was putting out the fire and his eyes lingered on the rapidly cooling embers in the makeshift fire pit. He reached down and carefully grabbed a chunk of cooled charcoal and turned it over in his hand a few times, contemplating the black marks it left on his hand. It was the closest thing he had to a writing utensil in this new world. 

He gripped the piece of charcoal firmly in his right hand and extended his left arm out a bit in front of him. The logical part of his brain repeated over and over that this would do nothing. That there was absolutely no point in even trying. That for all he knew, Gen had been weathered away to nothing in the years that had passed. 

But despite the overwhelming amount of logic that said this was a bad idea, Senku still found himself pressing the soft charcoal against his arm in a familiar but long unused motion.

_Gen?_

Senku stared down at the simple word on his arm, written so lightly that he could barely make it out in the quickly fading evening light. He knew there was next to zero chance that he would get a response, but he couldn’t stop the nagging pit of disappointment he felt when nothing else began appearing on his arm. He wondered if somewhere out there, there was a stone statue of a young mentalist with uneven hair and intelligent eyes. And if under the layers of stone, the word he had written was somehow, improbably, reflected on the man’s skin. 

However improbable and illogical it was, the thought made him smile for the first time since he had broken free of the stone.

-X-X-X-X-X-

It was beyond a shadow of a doubt the dumbest, most unscientific thing he had ever done in his life, but after that night, Senku developed a habit of collecting bits of charcoal from the fire every night and writing a small message on his arm every morning, just in case by some miracle or insane chance Gen woke up. They didn’t say much, but it became part of his daily routine.

_Good morning_

_Wake up soon, mentalist_

_It’s cold today_

_Please wake up_

_I got in a fight with a monkey today_

_I miss you._

When Taiju finally joined him, his routine didn’t change. He still found himself writing a small message on the inside of his arm to his still petrified soulmate. The first time Taiju saw him do it though, he looked at Senku with more pity in his eyes than Senku had believed one human could express. 

“Senku-”

“Nope. We aren’t going to talk about this,” Senku snapped, cutting Taiju off before he got the chance to form a full thought. 

“Senku, I know it sucks, but talking might hel-”

“Nope!” Senku clenched his fist in frustration, crumbling the small piece of charcoal he had been holding to dust in his palm. He wiped it off on his clothes, leaving a large black smudge down the side. He sighed and looked over at his best friend who was still giving him a pitying look. 

“I know it’s pointless, but I feel like I need to keep doing it. What if he wakes up like you or I did? What if there’s other people out there and they revive him somehow? What if he wakes up and doesn’t even think about me? I need him to know I’m here. That I’m thinking about him.”

Taiju reached over and gave Senku’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. 

“I’m sure you’re going to be the first thing on his mind when he wakes up. Hell, you’ll probably be the first thing he sees when he wakes up, since you’re going to be the one creating the depetrification formula and saving everyone. Think how romantic that will be.” Senku smiled and brushed his fingers over the writing on his arm, accidentally smudging it into an illegible splotch. 

“Saving him for a catastrophic world event. Doesn’t get much more romantic than that if the movies are to be believed.”

-X-X-X-X-X-

When he was separated from Taiju and Yuzuriha and joined Ishigami village, his routine still didn’t change. He left his two best friends with a few lumps of charcoal and the promise that in the off chance they met Gen, they would give him something to write with and he himself had been able to upgrade to writing with graphite thanks to Chrome’s impressive collection of rocks. But other than that, his routine remained the same. One small message written at some point every day in the hopes that one time he would get a response.

_I found a village of people who were never petrified, it’s a little strange_

_I miss talking to you_

_I wish you were here to bounce ideas off of_

_I miss your voice_

_Wake up._

He made sure to always do it when none of the villagers were around. From what he had gathered, the whole soulmate thing had ended with the petrification, or at least none of the villagers seemed to have any of the traditional soulmate connections he had grown up around. And while he was secretly enjoying teaching them about the modern world and science, he wasn’t sure he would ever be in the mood to explain how, for some inexplicable reason, he could write on his skin and another person would be able to see it simply because the universe had decided that that was how it should be. That seemed like something that would just lead to more headaches than it was worth.

-X-X-X-X-X-

Senku entered the lab a little later than usual, feeling a little thrown off for some unknown reason, to find Chrome already hard at work on their current project. Chrome looked up at him to offer a small greeting, but his friendly smile quickly morphed into confusion upon seeing Senku.

"Hey Senku? Did you know the marks on your face changed?" Senku reflexively reached up to touch the lines on his forehead as if he would be able to feel the change with his hand. 

"What? How?"

"Well you usually just have the ones on your forehead, but now there's one on your cheek? Which I'm like 99% sure wasn't there before? Or else I’m just incredibly unobservant?" Senku reached up to touch his cheek, suddenly wishing he had some sort of mirror. 

"What does it look like?" He asked out of curiosity. 

Chrome stretched across the table and put his finger just below Senku's left eye, tracing downwards a little before veering sharply to the side then coming back to the center in a gentle arc and finishing at his jaw. Senku tried to commit the line to memory as he tried to think of possible explanations. It sounded like another desertification mark, but there was no way he would just suddenly develops a new one overnight like that. So what could have caused a new mark that he couldn't have gotten himself?

The shape that Chrome traced triggered something in the back of his mind. He couldn’t be sure since he couldn’t see it, but it vaguely reminded him of something. Almost like a sharp, exaggerated smile. Almost like a certain mentalist’s smile whenever he was on TV.

He froze. There was only one other person with the power to mark his skin besides himself. He felt his heart speed up at the mere idea.

"Gen," he whispered as he frantically started searching for something to write with. Chrome furrowed his brow in confusion.

"No, I'm Chrome? Are you sure you're ok?" Senku let out a small laugh that turned slightly more manic when he finally found a writing utensil. 

"No, not you. Gen. He's my- We're-" he struggled to form words as he tried to collect his thoughts enough to write on his arm. "He's- I'll explain who he is later, sorry. I need to do something real quick." He took a deep breath and pressed the tip of the pencil into the soft inside of his arm. 

_Gen? Are you awake?_

He kept his arm in front of him, impatiently waiting for a response. Realistically, Gen had bigger things to worry about and the chance that he had been Taiju and Yuzuriha were somehow with him and had remembered to give him the charcoal was slim, but Senku couldn't help but sit staring at his arm. He wasn't sure how much time had passed before small black lines started to form underneath his own writing. His breath caught in his throat and a broad smile spread across his face.

_Oh my god, Senku! You're okay. You're alive. You're here. Well I guess not here, here, but in this world here. Where are you? _

Senku stared at the oh so familiar hand writing for a minute, overwhelmed with emotion. He brushed his fingers over the new words. Eventually, he grabbed his pencil to respond.

_I'm in a village a ways away. I'm assuming Tsukasa revived you? _

_Yeah, he did. _

Senku’s stomach twisted uncomfortably at the idea of Tsukasa being anywhere near his soulmate, but the feeling was mostly overshadowed by the pure excitement he felt at being able to talk to Gen again. He still couldn’t push down the concern completely, though.

_Don't let him know we're soulmates. Actually, don't let him know I'm alive at all. _

_Okay? I feel like I've missed something? How long have you been awake? _

_A little over a year now._

_Oh, Senku, I'm sorry_

_It's ok. You're awake now. You're ok. Everything's ok. _

“Senku, are you good?” Chrome’s voice forced Senku back to the present where he was sitting in the corner of the lab writing furiously on his arms and legs with a dopey smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

“Yeah,” he replied, drying his eyes quickly, “I’m great.” Chrome stared at him in disbelief.

“You don’t exactly look it.”

“Trust me. I’m great.” Senku turned his attention back to the new line of text that had appeared on his leg.

_How can I get to you?_

Senku ran his fingers over the words a few time, already imagining getting the chance to finally see Gen face to face for the first time since they had started talking so many years ago. But considering the situation, he knew it wouldn’t be that simple.

_Actually, I need you to do something for me_

_As long as it ends in me finally getting to see you, I’ll do anything._

_I need you to spy on Tsukasa for me for a little while._

_It took a few minutes for Gen to respond this time._

_I politely rescind my previous offer. _

-X-X-X-X-X-

After a bit of back and forth, Senku convinced Gen to stay with Tsukasa’s kingdom for a little while longer to spy on him for the Kingdom of Science with the promise that the mission wouldn’t last long and that they would be able to meet soon. 

Senku marveled at having his soulmate back, always unable to stop his smile when he saw Gen’s handwriting on his arm. It felt like everything was right in the universe again, despite the fact that society as they knew it had ceased to exist. 

They still couldn’t talk a lot, unfortunately, due to the fact that Gen had to hide the fact that they were talking from everyone in Tsukasa’s empire and the fact that he quickly ran out of the charcoal Senku had left with Taiju and Yuzuriha and had to find a way to get some more without raising suspicion. 

But they still managed to talk every day. Small good morning and good night messages, updates on what was going on, and daily promises that they would be together soon. 

The time passed quickly thanks to Gen’s uncanny ability to worm information out of the people around him, and much do both of their delight, they were soon making plans for Gen to escape Tsukasa’s kingdom and joining Senku in Ishigami village.

-X-X-X-X-X-

Senku stood at the end of the bridge on the edge of the village, staring unblinkingly at the treeline of the forest, waiting for any kind of movement. He bounced a little on the balls of his feet and repeatedly checked his arms to see if anything new had been written since Gen's last note of I'm leaving now. I can't wait to see you.

He snapped his head up at a rustling sound in the trees and took a hopeful step forward before he could stop himself. The rustling grew louder and so did the sound of his heartbeat in his ears. After what felt like an eternity, a figure emerged from the trees and Senku forgot how to breathe. 

He knew what Gen looked like before the petrification. Between Gen sending him an outrageous number of selfies and spending a year watching him on TV, the image of his soulmate was ingrained in Senku's mind. 

But seeing him in person was a different story. 

His hair had changed from its original black to being split half white half black down the middle, a strange look that still somehow suited the mentalist. He was tall. Taller than Senku had expected. Tall with a thin frame and fine features. His skin was still pale as if he hadn't spent any time in the sun, which should have been impossible in this primitive world. His outfit was far too put together for their situation, but Senku thought it looked perfect on him. 

They both froze with a few feet still separating them, both just staring and taking in the sight of one another. Finally, Senku broke the spell and spoke loud enough to carry across the distance between them.

"Asagiri Gen," he called out. He could feel a smile spread across his face and made no attempt to hide it. Gen's eyes widened and he smiled back. 

"Senku," he breathed out, barely audible. He moved forward quickly and closed the distance between them in a second, throwing his arms around Senku and pulling him into a crushing hug. Senku responded immediately by wrapping his arms around Gen's neck and returning the hug with just as much ferocity. 

“Senku-chan,” Gen whispered against Senku’s skin where his face was tucked against his neck. Senku pulled back enough to look at Gen’s face up close, reaching up to wipe away the tears of joy that were slowly tracking down his soulmate’s face.

“I’ve missed you so much, Gen,” Senku’s voice cracked as his own unshed tears started to fall. He let himself fall forward back into Gen’s arms, drying his tears by pressing his face against Gen’s shoulder. “So fucking much.” Gen brought a hand up to brush through Senku’s hair in a comforting motion. 

“I’m here now.” Gen pressed a quick kiss where Senku’s neck met his shoulder, moving to trail light kisses up his soulmate’s neck until he could whisper against his ear. “I won’t leave you again.”

-X-X-X-X-X-

Senku woke up the following morning feeling unusually warm. As consciousness returned to him, so did the memories from the day before.

His eyes snapped open and sure enough, Gen was lying right next to him, curled up against Senku’s side with Senku’s arm wrapped protectively around his shoulder. 

Senku smiled and cuddled back closer to his soulmate, slipping his arm over Gen’s waist when something dark on his inner arm caught his eye. He lifted his arm up to his eyes and read the familiar black handwriting there.

_Good morning Senku-chan. I love you._

Senku reread the words multiple times through slightly teary eyes before he gently grabbed Gen’s arm to turn it over and inspect the freshly written words that matched the ones on his arm perfectly. Gen shifted in his arms and rolled over to face Senku, smiling up at him with far too much clarity for someone who had just woken up.

“Did you wake up early just to write something sappy on my arm?” Senku asked quietly, still a little awed by the idea that he could now just speak to his soulmate like this instead of having to use a phone or write on his skin. Gen laughed lightly and ran his fingers across the inside of Senku’s arm over the writing.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Senku laughed in response and kissed the crown of Gen’s head, burying his face in Gen’s hair for a minute before he spoke again.

“Hey, mentalist.”

“Yeah?” Gen replied quietly against Senku’s chest.

“Good morning.” Gen let out a small, pleased hum and slipped his arm over Senku’s waist. Senku took a deep breath and spoke again. “And I love you.”

He tightened his arms around Gen in a tight hug until he felt the other move in his arms a bit, clearly trying to break free. He loosened his grip and Gen immediately stretched up to meet Senku in a sweet kiss. It was now far from their first, considering how many they had shared the day and night before, but the novelty of being able to do this with Gen now made Senku’s heart beat so fast it felt like it would burst from his chest.

They kissed lazily like that, warm in one another’s arms for a while with no way to know how much time had actually passed, eventually breaking apart to catch their breath. Gen pressed his hand against Senku's chest right over his racing heart. 

"Good morning, Senku-chan," he whispered against Senku's lips, "I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> Do you ever think about the fact that Senku was like....... a w a r e while he was petrified? And I imagine if you have someone you care about enough to miss, if you're conscious for 3700 years with no way to see them or speak to them or know if they're ok, that seems like it would fuck with you. But what do I know, I can't think of the last time I honestly missed someone.  
Happy new decade, y'all. I wish you all as much luck and happiness as possible in the coming years.  
Thanks for reading!!


End file.
